Jon MC
Jon MC
Nothing to Do with Islam
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In the immediate aftermath of the massacre of civilians in Tunisia David Cameron, the U.K.'s Prime-minister has once again assured the British public and non-Muslims worldwide that the attack was not carried out “in the name of Islam. Islam is a religion of peace.” The killers, rather, “do it in the name of a twisted, perverted ideology.”
Of course I believe what he says.
It is a great relief to me that I have such an Islamically educated man as the leader of my Country. Perhaps we should call him Mufti sheikh Imam Ayatollah Cameron to reflect his encyclopaedic knowledge of Islam.
You think I'm being sarcastic?
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Key Concepts Having Different Meanings for Muslims and Westerners
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In this article I shall address four key concepts as generally understood in the free western world and the Islamic world.
My experience when talking to Muslims is that when these (amongst other) words are used we “talk past each other” in that each is trying to convey a different concept to the other. Thus I might just as well have titled the piece “Western concepts misunderstood by Muslims”.
That said, I also have to acknowledge that some Muslim speakers exploit this disconnect in order to “say one thing whilst facing west and another whilst facing east”. In other words they use these “conceptual discrepancies” for the purposes of Taqiya.
Freedom
The Western viewpoint. In the West “freedom” is used to describe a whole range of things encompassed in civil, political and individual rights.
Write comment (70 Comments)A Closer Look at the “Muslim Manifesto” for the U.K.
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Louis Palme's articles (see here and here) and the analysis that followed drew my attention to this “manifesto”.
Here I take a more holistic look on the issue. Those familiar with the “Cairo declaration on human rights in Islam” will know that whilst a superficial reading of it would lead to nothing objectionable, a deeper reading, including article 25: “The Islamic Shari'ah is the only source of reference for the explanation or clarification of any of the articles of this Declaration”, will be aware how this one clause negates many others in practice.
Thus the OIC declaration was less than the sum of its parts.
Consequently, I intend to consider the “Muslim manifesto” from how the various parts interact together.
Further, whilst we often hear variations on the theme that “Islam is a religion of peace (and love)”, the actions of a host of Islamic Terrorist groups around the world which appeal extensively to the scriptural canon of Islam to show that their actions are Islamic demonstrate that the “peace and love” interpretation of Islam is not the only one.
Write comment (57 Comments)How Upset are U.K. Muslims by IS?
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In 2003 in the U.K. the “Stop the war coalition” (StWC) organised a march against the impending Iraq invasion by a military alliance which included the U.K.
A major theme was that this war was “not in my name”, i.e. the protesters were dis-avowing the government's impending action.
Estimates of the numbers involved range from 750K (Police), 1 million (BBC) up to 3 million (StWC).
This might equate to 1.5 million in reality.
Write comment (21 Comments)U.K. Imams' Fatwa against British Muslims Joining the Islamic State
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The fatwa reads:
“There is no doubt that President Assad’s regime in Syria is oppressive, unjust and brutal, and has committed numerous atrocities against its own people. The same is true of the so-called ‘Islamic State’ (IS) or self-styled ‘Caliphate', formerly known as ‘The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria’: it is an oppressive and tyrannical group. The IS persecution and massacres of Shia Muslims, Christians and Yazidis is abhorrent and opposed to Islamic teachings and the Islamic tolerance displayed by great empires such as the Mughals and Ottomans. [Islamic State] is a heretical, extremist organisation and it is religiously prohibited (haram) to support or join it; furthermore, it is an obligation on British Muslims to actively oppose its poisonous ideology, especially when this is promoted within Britain. British and other EU citizens are bound by their duties to their home countries according to Islamic theology and jurisprudence: it is therefore prohibited (haram) to travel to fight with any side in Syria, including non-state actors, since this is forbidden by laws in EU countries.” See here. (The reason I have had to use the Times of Israel is that it is the only online source I've seen that actually quotes the fatwa.)
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